Pathology I + II
There are two separate departments that you can choose from in this year so I can only talk about the 1st department. My personal opinion is that this department is the best in the whole university so far. The lectures are, in the majority, very interesting and well taught, the head of the department genuinely seems to care what students problems and concerns are and will change things if it is possible and finally there are no bad teachers. The course is split into 3 different practical sessions plus lectures. Most of the time will be spent in the autopsy room working on a fresh (or not so fresh) cadavers. The smallest amount of time will be in the specimen room and in between will be histology. How to pass Most of the lectures are non PPT based so you must take notes or as I did use the pre-made note written by previous students, I found the Tali and Astra notes to be the best but use whichever suites your own personal style, they condense the official book into the most important parts Even still I found making notes that summarise these notes even more a great help, plus it helps to give a logical structure to the topics The best way to get the top marks in your topics is to treat each one like a small presentation, it is better to present a smaller amount of structured information than vomiting out huge amounts in a chaotic order For every disease make sure you can talk about: * Etiology * A short pathomechanisation, if genetic then what the gene encodes for * 2-3 important morphological changes * 2-3 important symptoms In the semi final and final the most important part of the exam is the oral topics, you can do really badly on everything before this, even fail but still pass due to your topic performance. Obviously the worse you do the better you have to be in your topics to pass Nominate someone or personally go to the meetings organised with the head of the department, if you have any problems or suggestions it is probably the only department in the university that will actually listen and do something about it Try to do the exam first, it will serve as a basis for many other exams as there are overlapping subjects Or do the exam last as the other exams can build up to this, however you will be very tired by the end and there will still be a lot to study If there are no places in the exam you want, email the department and they will add extra places or create a new date near to the one you want Autopsies Almost everyone will encounter some problem with the autopsies, I personally was completely fine with anatomy but struggled with the first few autopsy practises. A few tips to help cope: * If you feel nauseous or dizzy leave the room for a few min but try and get back in as soon as you can, the teachers know some people are hit harder than others * It will get easier the more you go * Putting menthol balm under your nose will help with the smell * Try to stand at the end of the table furthest from the drain * Prepare yourself when the stomach is opened, this is usually the worst part * Anti-nausea tablets can help * Going in hungover is a terrible idea Try to can hands on as soon as possible, few universities offer this type of education anymore so make the most out of it If you cut up organs yourself it is much easier to orientate yourself when they are pre-cut up After the first few occasions try to get your teacher to hide the history and try to work it out yourself, this will help you memorise and use the vast amount of knowledge that you will need to know In this department you are allowed to make notes and take pictures so take full advantage of this You are also expected to have 10 reports per group of the most interesting cases over the year that could be asked in the final, however, I don't know anyone who was asked a question from these. If you know your theory well you will be okay if you are the sole unlucky person to be asked For the final autopsy exam just say what you see, it is very difficult to fail this part They will not ask you the detail that you were expected to know in anatomy it is a lot more general i.e. you will never be asked the branches of the maxillary artery by could be asked to locate the renal vein branching points Know the standard weight of all the organs Histology 100 or so slides dealing with microscopic morphological changes There are no slides or microscopes here, instead there are computers that are all linked together and to the teachers terminal so everyone can see the same slide at the same magnification To help identification group all slides to the same organ, if you get eye there is only one so easy, if you get lung, there are many but you can still narrow your guesses down The identification of the slides is less important than the theory behind the disease or syndrome If you are logical with your reasons for identification then this will be better, even if you are wrong You can download the viewer software on your own computer and practise the slides at home There are some notes for this but mainly the theory from the lectures will be enough You will not be told the decease but you will be told the area of the body the slide is from in the exams Specimen 100 or so preserved specimens some over 100 years old! Probably the easiest part of the course, with the exception of 2-3 every single case is covered by the lectures The name of the problem is written on the specimen, in Latin, and this will be available for you in the exams as well If your Hungarian is good enough there are sometimes patient history's written on the specimen as well, I got lung aspergillosis and was asked what situation could lead to this, fortunately it was written in Hungarian on the specimen and so was very easy to answer Competition In the second semester there is a competition that is very good to try * First place will get a 5 for the subject * Second place will get a 5 for the theory but will have to do the practical exams * Third place will get a 5 for the practical exam but will have to do the theory ** this person will do the theory with the head of the department however There is no penalty or entry criteria for taking part so everyone should do it The competition is in a case study style, there is a book written by the department that has hundreds of examples, it is also very good to test your knowledge, I highly recommend it 'The exams' Midterms: * none Semi final * oral exam ** 1 histology slide ** 1 specimen * 2 topics ** 1 from general pathology ** 1 from cancer and heart pathology Final * 2 histology slides * 1 specimen * 1 autopsy specimen * 3 topics ** 1 from general pathology ** 1 from cancer and heart pathology ** 1 from systems pathology 'Difficulties' Similar to anatomy, it is not really a difficult subject but the amount of information is huge In this department there are no midterms, although it means one less exam to pass each semester it does mean that studying is not forced upon you and you will have to to it on your own initiative If you start to study in the exam period it is very unlikely you will pass The first few autopsies can be a bit overwhelming, not just the experience but the fact that you know very little, they will get repetitive so you will learn the basics quickly That being said by the end of the year the autopsies will get very repetitive and dull Conclusion Overall a very rewarding subject from a great department, this subject will help with many others so it pays to do as well as possible, give yourself a week or two to prepare, more would be better